Pusher attachment for lift trucks



April 17, 1956 R. A. BRUDI 2,742,167

PUSHER ATTACHMENT FOR LIFT TRUCKS Filed Dec. 25, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 9 RONALD A. BRUDI L1: BY

ATTY.

R. A. BRUDI 2,742,167

PUSHER ATTACHMENT FOR LIFT TRUCKS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 PICS. 3

April 17, 1956 Filed Dec. 23, 1953 INVEN TOR. RONALD A. BRUDI M f M ATTY.

April 17, 1956 R. A. BRUDI PUSHER ATTACHMENT FOR LIFT TRUCKS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 23, 1955 INVENTOR.

RONALD A. BRUDI WZWJZ ATTY.

4 2,742,167 rusnnn ATTACHMENT FOR LIFT TRUCKS Ronald A; Brudi, Battle Creek Township, Mich, assignm- "to Clark Equipment Company, a corporation of Michigan V Application December 23,1953, Serial No. 400,004?

' "-6 C|aims.. or. 214- -s14 MyQpresnt invention relates generally to attachments for industrialilift trucks, and, more specifically, to pusher:

Uni ed, S ates .Pa e t (if ported to the place of deposiuthe logs heretoforehave.

been rolled olfthe forks by tiltingthe mast forwardlyj or" by placing the logs on dunnage and withdrawing the forks. In the case of logs having a flat side,.,or in unloading logs where dunnage isnot available,for in placing logs on top of other logs, the forward tilt available may not. be adequate to insure discharge of the logs and attempts to withdraw. the forks from under a log may pull over the'whole pile or otherwise bedangerous to workmen engaged in unloadingand piling the logs.

- It is an object. of my present invention to provide remotely operable pusher means which may be employed fordischarging a load; such as logs from the forks or otherloadsupporting means of an industrial truck.-

It is another object of my present invention to provide pusher means which may be retracted, when not in use, to a non-interfering position relative to the carriage and supporting means so that the latter may be used for handling loads other than logs, without any loss in load-carrying capacity.

- The structure, which enables the foregoing objects to be attained, comprises pusher means which includes arms pivotally mounted at their one ends to the load supporting carriage in the plane of the latter at the upper 'end of each side thereof. Crank arms are secured to the pusher arms and project rearwardly therefrom, and hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly means, carried by the load supporting carriage, has connection with the crank arms for effecting pivotal movement of the latter and swinging movement of the pusher arms. The pusher arms may be.

swung outwardly at their lower ends for pushing a load from the load supporting means.

. It is a further object of my present invention to provide pusher means'wherein the lower end thereof is confined to a path of travel which is approximatelyparallel to the load supporting means during outward swinging movement 7 thereof so thatlogs of relatively small diameters may be discharged from the loadsupporting means.

, The pusher arms are of a telescopic construction and.

include extensible lower sections. Actuating links are pivotally mounted at their one ends to the lower sections of the pusher arms and at their other ends to the load supporting carriage in the plane of the latter at the lower end of eachside thereof. The actuating links serve to urge the lower sect-ionsof the pusher arms downwardly, relativeto the upper sections as the pusherarms areswung within the cylinders 40 and the crank arms 32 and pusher away from the load supporting carriage so that the lower, ends of the lower sections follow a path which is approxi-;

mately parallel to the load supporting meansduring outward swinging movement thereof.

It is a still further object of my present invention to provide a pusher attachmenh as described, which-is simple in construction, efiici ent, and economical, i Now, in order-to acquaint those skilled in the art with.

the manner of constructing and using pusher means in accordance with the principles of mypresent invention, '1

1 shall describe in connection with the accompanying draw ings a preferred embodiment of my present invention.

In the drawings: 1

Figure l is a side elevational view of an industrial truck," withthe pusher means of my present inventionarranged at the forward end thereof in extendedfposition;

. Figure 2 is a partial view of thelmachine of Fig. 1 with the pusher attachment in retracted'position;

Figure 3 is a detailed side elevational view attachment in extended position; and i Figure 4 is a partial front elevational view of the attachment in the sameposition as in Fig. 3. i i i of the pusher Referring now to the drawings, there is indicated gen erally by the reference numeral 10 anindustrial truck which has a main frame (enclosed within the body portion 12) supported on forward, 'wheels .14. The main frame, at its forward end, supports a vertically disposed mast structure 13. The mast in turn carries a load supporting carriage defined by a pair of vertically spaced transversely extendi'ng'beam members 1 6 and 18. (see Figs.

3fand 4) which carry load supporting means comprising a pair of L-shaped forkframesm. Thehorizontal portion of the load supporting means 20 projects forwardly and away from the beam members 16. and 18 of the load supporting carriage. It will be understood thatthe carria ge and forks thereon are movable vertically up. and; down mast 13 in a conventional manner by hydraulic or other suitable means to raise and lower. a load on forks 20. Vertically extending channel members 22 of U-shaped cross section are secured to the ends of the beam members- 16 and 18 andmay be considered part of theload sup} porting carriage. The channel members 22 have bolted to their upper ends plates 23 which support blocks 24 as by welding to the ends of the tube 26. Secured to the tube 26,-immediately inwardly of the arm sections 30,

are rearwardly extending crank arms 32; the arm sections 30 and the crank arms 32 may also be connected directly I by welding a suitable attaching block between them, if desired, to provide increased strength. The rear ends of.

the crank arms 32 are pivotallymounted at 34 to the outer ends of piston rods 36 of hydraulic piston and cylin- I derassemblies indicated generally at 38. The actuating assemblies 38 furthercomprisecylinders 40 pivotally mounted at 42 to bracket members 44 which are secured to the vertical channel members 22 of the loadtsu'pporting carriage of the truck 10; a

The hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies 38 arev adapted to be suitably actuated remotely by an operator seated on the truck 10. By admitting fiuid under pressure 5 to the lower ends of the cylinders 40, the piston rods 36 are adapted to be distended thereby causing clockwise rotation of the crank arms 32 and pusher arms 28. Like wise, when fluid under pressure is admitted to the upper ends of the cylinders 40, the piston rods 36 are withdrawn arias" 28 are averse iia count er-clockwise direction for movingadoad o'fi of theload supporting fork frames" 20."-

In order to facilitate the handling of goods such as logs which are of relatively small diameters, I provide the ushing attaclrm a'rms astlie'lattei are swung aigvay from theload'support ing carriage,.so that movement of the lower endo'f' the puishern ie ns follows a path wlii'ctrisapproximatelyparall'el totli' roadys ppertrng forks120f and closely adjacent thereto. Th'e'iextensib'le members" of the pusher means comprise lower channel" n-i e'mbe'rs 46 which are mounted for hiding mevemenrwitnrn me upper tubulars'ections 30 of the'pusherj arfnis 28f, In order to" enact-movement of' V, w '46 wit ntneseeti bns-30; actuating links 48, at' their one ends; are pivotally mounted at Saw the the exte" extensions 46 and at their other ends are pivotally mounted at 52 'toblock member's '4whi'ch' are suitably secured in'th e'lower ends of the vertical channel mem bers 22. will beunder'stood that the rectangular tubular sections 30'have one'side cutlout for a sufli'cient distance to allow the pivotfcbhrictions 50' to move up and' 'down'with'respect' to sections 30 as described. Now since the lower ends of the actuating links48 are relatively fixed to the load supporting carriage,' as the pushers arms 28' are rotated counter-clockwise, for discharging a' load, the upper ends ofthe actuating links 48' tend to pivot outwardly and downwardly thereby' moving the extensionrn embers46" downwardly for maim taining the lower' ends thereof closely adjacent to the load supporting forks 20 irrespective of the pivotal position of the pushe'r' arms 28. Likewise, when the pusher;

arms 28 are rotated clockwise, the upper. ends of the V I extensiblev members moves downwardly frorrit e lower ends ofth'e" pusher mam? f 2. For use with an'indu strial truck having a load supporting carriage andhorizontal load supporting means" extending forwardly therefrom, pusher means pivotally mounted at its upper end to the load supporting carriage and outwardly swingable at its lower end for pushing a load from the load supporting means, means for effecting swinging movement of said pusher means about its pivotal mounting, and said pusher means being extensible downwardly in the plane of said pusher means as the latterris swung away from the load supporting carriage so that the lower endof said pusher means movesinf a path which is approximately parallel to the load supporting ,means during outward swinging movement thereof.

3.' For use withan industrial'truck' having a load supporting carriage, pusher .means pivotally' mounted at its upper end to the load supporting carriage and outwardly swingable at its lower end for pushing a load away from the load supporting carriage, means for effecting swinging movement of said pusher means about its pivotal actuating links 48 tend to pivot inwardly and upwardly,

for moving the extension members 46 upwardly so as" to maintain the lower ends of the latter close to the load supporting forks*20., The paths followed by the lower ends of the members 46 actually are slightly serpentine; however, for all practical purposes these paths are a'p-f'j proximately parallel'to the horizontal portions of the the art will're'cogniz'e that by arranging the pusher arms in thei manner shown and described, rather than forwardly of the load' supporting carriage, loads other than logs, such as re'ctangular' loads, may be stacked in abutment with the'load supporting carriage rather than in a less stablef'p sition; forwardly thereof. Thus, although'the attachment" of my" present invention is particularly adapted'for handling logs, the attachment neither limits the t'fjrulc k solely to such use'nordecreases' its capacity for handling other types of loads. v

Now, while Ihav'e shown anddescribed what I believe to'be a preferred embodiment of my present invention, it will-be understood that various rearrangements and modification's" may be' made" therein without departing from the-spirit and scopeof my invention.

I claim 7 I 1. For use with an industrial truck having a load supporting carriage, pusher means pivotally mounted at one endto the load supporting carriage and outwardly swingextensible as it isswun'g away from the loadsupporting carriage so that the said other end ofsaid' pusher means movesinia patn ,which is ap roximately parallel to the ground during outward swinging" movement thereof.

mounting, extension means'mounted in said pusher means for sliding movement in the'plane of the latter, and'means for urging said extension means downwardly relative to said pusher means as the latter are swung away from the load supporting carriage so that the lower end of said extension means moves in a path which is approximately parallel to' the ground during outward swinging movement'thereof.

4. For use with an industrial truck having a load supporting" carriage, pusher means pivotally mounted at its upper .end' to the upper end of the load supporting carriage; said pusher means being outwardly swingable' at its lower'end for pushing a load away from the load supporting carriage, means for effecting swinging movement 'of 'said' pusher means about its pivotal mounting, ex-

tension means mounted in said pusher means for sliding movement in the plane of the latter, actuating link means pivotally mounted at one end to said extension means and at the other end to the lower end of the load supporting carriage, and said actuating link means serving to urge said extension means downwardly relative to said swinging movement of said pusher arms about their pivotal mountings, said pusher arms having extensible lower sections, and means for urging said lower sections of said pusher arms downwardly relative to said upper sections as the pusher arms are swung away from the load supporting carriage so that the lower ends of said lower sections move in paths which are approximately parallel to the ground during outward swinging movement thereof.

6. For use with an industrial truck having a load supporting carriage and horizontal load supporting means extending forwardly therefrom, telescoping pusher arms having upper sections pivotally mounted to the load supporting carriage in the plane of the latter at the upper end of each side thereof, crank arms'secured to said upper sections of said pusher arms and projecting rearwardly therefrom, hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly means carried by the load'supporting'carriage and having connection with said crank arms for effecting pivotal movement of the latter and swinging movement of said pusher arms, said pusher'arms having extensible lower sections, actuating links pivotally mounted at" their one tions of said pusher arms downwardly relative to said upper sections as the pusher-arms are swung away from the load supporting carriage so that the lower ends of said lower sections move in paths which are, approximafely parallel to the load supporting means during outward swinging movement thereof.

Refel 'ences Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Streeter Oct. 6, 1925 

